AI platforms have been at the center of several high-profile psychosis cases – even among people without a history of mental health conditions.
Psychosis, defined as difficulty in telling what is real from what is not, involves a spectrum of symptoms from disorganized thoughts to hallucinations to paranoid delusions.
AI platforms’ tendency to be “yes machines” – encouraging more user engagement – can drive unhealthy behaviors and interactions, increasing the risk for psychosis, according to two professors of psychiatry at CU Anschutz.
“Interacting with these platforms can give you responses that simply affirm your thinking,” said Emily Hemendinger, MPH, LCSW, clinical director of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Program and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine. “ChatGPT is going to confirm – sometimes with only minimal pushback – what you type in. Now take that easy agreement and the dangers around delusions and psychosis, and you see the shaky ground some people can be on.”
And the risks are even greater for younger users, said Michelle West, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry.
“We call the ages 12 to 25 the transition-age youth period and vital to brain development. One of the main roles during this period is to figure out how to develop social relationships and friendships,” West said.
“But social interactions are very complicated for all ages, and being plugged in online or to AI all the time can be very unhelpful; they can lead to avoiding those difficult situations we all need practice in.”
In the following Q&A, Hemendinger and West detail what psychosis is, how AI platforms like ChatGPT present mental health pitfalls, and how to establish a healthier distance from them.
Read more in our series on AI.